EXPLORE TIGARD-TUALATIN

TIGARD
With a population of about 50,000, the city of Tigard is located just south of Portland in southeastern Washington County. It is home to the region’s premier tax-free shopping destinations—Washington Square and Bridgeport Village—and has a community that is devoted to the arts, with the only professional musical theater company in the region.

Recreation is tops here, with Tigard’s Cook Park providing access to the Tualatin River, a calm waterway that is popular with paddlers. The Fanno Creek Greenway Trail (as well as the Tualatin River Water Trail) connects Cook Park to the Tualatin Community Park. Highlights of this trail include wetlands and ponds, oak forest and the flowered landscape of the Tupling Butterfly Garden.

Main Street, located in Tigard’s downtown, is home to where visitors may create a glass masterpiece at the area’s only public glass-blowing art studio. A few favorite local restaurants and a brewery also attract many to this reinvigorated downtown street.

TUALATIN
The city of Tualatin, with a population of nearly 27,000, is located in the southern part of Washington County, just south of Tigard. This small community boasts a number of attractions and activities and events that are of interest to residents and visitors alike.

This “young” city has an interesting prehistoric story. Some 15,000 years ago, the Missoula floods, a series of Ice Age floods, swept through the Willamette and Tualatin valleys. Rocks weighing in at thousands of pounds, or glacial erratics, have been found in the area for more than a century. Currently, these erratics and other prehistoric artifacts are on display at the Tualatin Heritage Center and the Tualatin Public Library. The 100,000 square–foot Cabela’soutdoor store also pays homage to this rich, prehistoric history with artifacts and interpretive signage.

The Tualatin Commons, the city’s town center, is a 19-acre promenade and plaza complete with a three-acre lake surrounded by a collection of shops, restaurants and a hotel. Close to the Commons is the city’s library and the city park. During the summer months, the Commons bustles with free concerts featuring a diverse slate of musical genres, held every Friday (June-August).